You Are What You Eat
by Tenuem
Summary: Deep in Mount. Justice, something fimiliar, yet not, lurks. Ghost!Hunger AU
1. Little Issues

**You Are What You Eat**

 _Chapter 1_

 **Little Issues**

Unbetaed, unedited, basically just something I threw together, it's gonna have like 4 parts or so. This isn't a replacement for Momentum or a companion piece. **For those reading Momentum** I'm switching to my schooling schedule so post will be every other day. Please enjoy!

-0-

It was a bright Sunday afternoon when he first felt it. A light clawing at his stomach and a tick in his head telling him that it was _time to eat_. They were on a mission, they being The Team, and he'd rather die than let them know about his _habits_ —could they be called habits if it was natural?—who knew what they would think. It was only his luck that he happened to be one of the many ghost cursed with this _hunger_.

When it first happened he was with his friends, it started with a ticking in his brain and a light feeling telling him that he needed _food or else he'd die_ ignoring the fact that he was already dead—so he ate. Unfortunately no matter what he ate and how much he did, the _clawing_ never stopped. Only growing worse and worse until the thought of eating food was sickening and he couldn't keep anything down.

It was _dizzying_ , like a staying on a spinning ride for far to long. He'd become more and more less responsive. Sluggishly moving through life like a viewer. As if he wasn't quite in control. Some of the ghost took notice, and used it to their advantage, Danny still tried to fight them, but there was an odd feeling when he did. A feeling he wasn't going to tell his friends about. It was easy to ignore. To force down the thing in his brain telling him that the ghost he was fighting was _food_ and that _he should eat it. The pain will all go away if you just eat it._

 _Then_ he had seen the small ghost. It was but a little blob. Bloobing it's way through it's afterlife with no discernible features. _Nobody would miss it,_ the voice cooed, _nobody would even notice it was gone._

Danny snapped, scrunching up his body nice and low like a wild cat about to go in for the kill. His eyes blazed a toxic _green_ in the dimly lit alleyway sending a real cat skimpering off somewhere. He could feel a growl building in the back of his throat as his canines elongated and his nails sharpened. The blob ghost paused, glancing back at the rabid Phantom with mild curiosity. Phantom crept closer. The tiny thing tilted its head to the side. A line of confused ghost speak tumbling out of its mouth. Phantom crept closer. It realized something was wrong when the normally cheery hero didn't respond. He would talk to them all the time, babbling in semi-decent ghost speak about all his problems and the would laugh and talk about rumours they had heard. Phantom crept closer. Something wasn't right.

He _pounced_.

Mouth opening, unhinging as he launched himself at the tiny ghost. _Food food food food hunger food_. The words swirled in his mind, fogging his vision and stomping down any lingering feelings of _no this isn't right!_ The ghost squirmed in his jaw, begging for him to just _let it go and that it won't tell anyone._ _Food food food_. The voice hissed, and Phantom bit down. It's struggling stopped almost immediately. The blob ghosts body falling limp in his jaws as he began to tear into his prize. Using his hand to rip small chunks of _green_ to place in his mouth and _consume_.

That was when a _scream_ interrupted him. Phantoms head snapped up, standing protectively over the corps—was it a corps if the thing he killed was already dead—that he had claimed. A warning hiss fell from his mouth. "Danny?" He could hear a small voice ask. Hiss dissolving into a low, dangerous growl as the person moved forward.

The first time was not fun. There had been a lot of self loathing at hate spiraling in Danny's mind after that experience. He was a killer, and even worse, he was technically a cannibal. After that his friends started carrying ecto-soup as they liked to call it. It was mainly just energy that they collected straight from the ghost zone, it didn't hurt anything. Danny would never tell them that it was never even close to enough food. The idea of _hunting and eating_ something that had thoughts and ideas and a life was too much.

When he joined The Team he was nervous. What if they found out? Would they kick him out? Apparently—he wasn't even that surprised—Batman knew about his issue, and about how he wasn't eating enough technically. How, he would never know. Batman was, surprisingly supportive once he explained that it was only ghost energy that he ate and not life force or anything concerning that could hurt the team.

Black Canary was another person who knew. With his permission Batman had informed her of it, because therapy, and Batman had seen the scars on his wrist and legs. He still refused to eat ghost even with the pressure, so they compromised. Small little energy packets hidden around to look like machinery so that if any of the team members found one they wouldn't suspect anything. It would tide him over until he could get to his friends.

It _usually worked._

Danny had forgotten to restock them. He was staying over at the mountain for a large mission—his parents thought he was off doing some intern stuff, technically he _was but_ ,—Megan and Conner were also there. He was huddled up in one of the spare rooms when the hunger started to literally eat at him. Without even thinking he'd leave long scratches in his legs like he was digging for ectoplasm.

Danny let out a low groan. _Out of all the places._ Slowly crawling out of bed he glanced around for a container. _Nothing_. They were all empty. Turning into his phantom form he slowly crept out of the room. Crawling along the ceiling like some sort of horror movie monster. The automatic lights flickered around him as the darkness seemed to almost cling to his body—a hunting technique. It was hard to evade what you wouldn't see—slowly Phantom made it to the kitchen area.

Nothing, absolutely nothing. A growl bubbled in his throat. He hated, hated this. Stupid food not being where it's supposed to be. The hunger only _clawed_. Phantom paid no mind as all the lights in the entire building slowly shut off. Leaving his pools of green eyes as the only illumination in the entire mountain.

The sound of footsteps drew his attention down the hallway he had came from. Creeping along the ceiling silently he made his way over to the sound. Megan. She _looked_ like food with her green skin and floaty habits, but wasn't food which was a shame because he was _hungry so damn hungry he needed food it consumed his mind and was all he could think of._

-0-

The Martian-girl below him makes a questioning noise before looking around. "Hello?" She speaks into the air, slowly falling into a defensive stance. The Martian-girl then looks up, and up she looks at she sees _him_. Crouched and leering above her with his head turned almost impossibly around to stare at her. She makes a couple of startled, confused noises. Opening and closing her mouth a few times as the hunger in his stomach only _coils_. Dragging his core and ripping it to shreds. It _hurts_ and he's _hungry_. "Danny?" The Martian-girl speaks in a small, tiny, unsure voice. She is not very intimidating like this. Phantom doesn't know how she could ever survive.

He growls, and she blinks with wide eyes and a far too pale face. The Martian-girl opens her mouth, and _screams_. He stares at the girl for only a moment, listening to her panicked cries for help, before dropping to the floor and running off. The clone-boy will be here soon, and despite what he may think, the clone-boy is very strong, and gets very angry, very easily.

So Phantom goes scampering off down the dark hallway. He may be so very _hungry_ , but he still has survival instincts. In the distance he can hear clone-boy and Martian-girl making noises at each other. The girl sounds upset and panicked and the boy sounds angry and protective. He watches them from the distance, large pools of toxic green viewing their every move. Clone-boy stiffens suddenly, slowly turning his head to face Phantom, they stare at each other for what could've been an hour before he alerts the girl to Phantoms presence.

He would've left right then and there, if the walls weren't reinforced with anti-ecto metals. _Stupid ghost repellents._ Originally it had been to keep ghost out, and since that sort of technology was so complicated and difficult, it was hard to make it recognized Phantom as not a threat. It hadn't been much of a problem since he could easily just turn human, but now, he was trapped _in the building_ , and Phantom wanted _out. Now._

-0-

"We need to call the league. I don't think we can take him." Megan whispered to Conner, staring at the spot he was pointing at. There was a disheveled Phantom, crouched low, hiding behind a countertop so only his eyes were really visible. Conner had flicked on his flashlight which only seemed to cause Phantom to become more alert, hissing and growling until the light suddenly turned off. It didn't work even when Conner tried to turn it back on.

"Do it." Conner simply stated keeping a careful watch on the two wide, green, pools which signified where Phantom was. "Megan!" He suddenly hissed when the eyes disappeared. Megan glanced up with a worried expression. For whatever reason—probably Phantom—her phone was acting strange. Conner took a step in front of her when the green eyes suddenly popped back up and into view, closer this time. "Hurry up." He pushed, glaring into the darkness surrounding them. The lights didn't work anymore, they had tried it both when they first woke up. This was not good.

"Megan to the league," she spoke quickly and quietly from behind Conner, "there's—a situation. Something happened with Phantom."

"I'm on my way." The voice of Batman replied, both teens practically sighed in relief. "Can you see him?" Batman asked over the communication device.

"Yeah he's—he's right here. A few feet away in the kitchen. He's just _staring_." Conner explained, slowly pushing Megan with him as he began to back away and down the hall.

"Get somewhere safe we'll be on our w—" the line went dead, Phantom let out a screech and charged at them, both teens turned and _bolted_ it down the hallway.

Skidding into a doorway they both slammed it, locking the door before finding someplace to hide. Megan under the bed, Conner in the closet. The _pitter patter_ of feet let them know of the fact that Phantom was drawing near. Megan watched as two large green circles poked into the room. Lighting it in a dim acidic glow. The outline of the rest of Phantoms body slowly phased through the rest of the door. It was only just barely visible, lighted only by his eyes and his next to nothing glow.

Phantom stalked through the room. Growling lowly in the back of his throat as Megan struggled to stay silent. His boots touched down right in front of the bed.

Megan moved to place her hand over her mouth.

The legs slowly began to crouch down.

"Phantom."

It was Batman.

-0-

Batman could only watch as the half crouched down Phantom suddenly launched himself across the room, falling into a low fighting stance. Both Conner and Megan ran out of their hiding spots, taking places beside Batman. "You need to get out of here." Seeing them about to protest he hardened his eyes. " _Now_." The two teens ran not wanting to argue.

Batman carefully eyed the rabid Phantom, who only stared back at him. "Phantom," he spoke carefully. Sighing as he realized the boy was too far gone at this point, grabbing the thermos he brought with him he moved to uncap it. Phantom beat him to it. Forcing the item out of his hands as the ghost retreated to the farthest corner of the room. Huddling around the thermos.

Batman turned around to the shocked faces of Megan and Conner. "I thought I told you to leave." He stated, moving to leave the room and taking the two teens with him. "Did I not?" He questioned, closing the door and moving down the now dimly lit hallway.

"Well we uh—" Megan started

"We deserve an explanation."


	2. Cough Syrup

I'm just replying to comments with questions, or stuff I feel the need to answer. 

Reader238: I'm sorry a wot? I don't know what that is..? Danny's just a half ghost, I looked up what you said and got stuff from the anime Bleach, idk if that's what you mean but... naw, this is a DP/JL crossover sorry man

Thenarey: I feel blessed. Also that snickers thing is definitely happening and I'm steeling it forever.

 **You Are What You Eat**

 _Chapter 2_

 ** _Cough Syrup_**

Still unbetaed, unedited, no I'm not looking for a beta, my updating schedule would make you wanna cry. I thought that some of you'd enjoy the fact that I abbreviated the title of this story in my files and now it's just YAWYE 1, YAWYE 2 And so forth. 

-0-

Phantom dashed forward at the man with the food, his supernatural strength letting himself propel his body forward. Violently ripping the container—thermos, whatever—from the man's hands before flinging himself across the room and into the corner so that it couldn't be taken back. The human-man gave him one last glance before closing the door. He turned his attention back to the container, a thermos he vaguely recognized. He stared at the thermos for a couple minutes, tilting his head from side to side like a confused cat, before finally biting down on the top in a strange attempt to open it, leaving deep dent marks in the metal.

Growling in frustration he lifted up the container to the light and slowly spun it in his hands. A _button_. A release button. Pressing down on it with hands that felt far too large, a blue light erupted from the container. Phantom let out a surprised shriek, dropping the thermos and crouching low to the ground.

The blue light grew dim and in its wake left a new form. A ghost. Food. It was a formless thing, but it was a _big_ formless thing. Seven feet tall, green and very blobby. _Perfect_. The blob slowly took form, changing into the vague shape of a man. A seven foot tall man. Phantom knew that in the back of his mind this would normally bother him, but the _pain_ and _hurt_ was too much, and he was so, so, _hungry_.

The ghost spun around rather suddenly when it began to hear a low growl from behind it. Titling up the impression of a cowboy hat of sorts the ghost took in the room. It was plain, mostly gray with the occasional blue accent. A large king bed, two nightstands on either side of the bed, a dresser and a closet. All in all it was a basic room. Phantom only stared at the creature as it took it's time to glance around the room, gaining its baring and fixing its hat. The silence was almost _deafening_ , the only real sound being a steady _tick tick tick_ from a table clock in the corner, and the mechanical _buzz_ of the electrical wires and lights and things of the sorts that lined the walls and floors of the entire mountain.

Phantom found himself perched on the top of a dresser, balancing on his haunches, invisibly leering and stalking the almost formless ghost. It was fresh, he could tell. Probably only died a couple months ago, formed maybe last week. These were the best ghost to eat, mostly because they couldn't fight back very well, and most of their energy was spent list keeping a form, so it went into their form. It was like a big, delicious energy drink. Phantom slowly let the invisibility drop from his form, melting away to reveal his corporal form. He had changed, he always did when hunting; long, sharp teeth and nails, and pointed ears, his eyes becoming nothing but green, swirling and spinning like a portal.

The ghost finally took notice to Phantom in the corner. He blinked for a moment, as both ghost stared at each other. " _Uh_ ," the ghost finally spoke after a moment, a thick accent already noticeable in his voice. "You alright there son?" He let out a hearty laugh, one you wouldn't find out of place coming from one of those fake Santa Clauses that showed up at the malls towards Christmas time. "Now I don't exactly happen t'know where I's am, you y'wouldn't mind clueing me in son, would'ja?"

Phantom only growled. _Stupid food making stupid annoying noises_. The ghost put his hands up, with a startled _Woah there son, no need to get too violent._ That was when Phantom _pounced_. Launching himself from the dresser and onto the unsuspecting ghost. The ghost let out a surprised shout before being forced to the ground unceremoniously. Phantom pinned the other to the ground, staring at the creature below him with _wide, wild_ eyes. It was then that Phantom bit down, _hard_. He had lowered his head toward the area of what would've been the ghost shoulder—had it had more of a form, instead of just a vague blob—and began to eat. Ripping gooey clumps of green form its body as the ghost let out shrieks and cries. Begging to be let go. "I'll—" he had gasped withering under the strength of Phantom. "I'll never tell—t-ell another soul. N-never!" The ghost continued to plead.

Phantom hissed a warning. Annoyed by the loud panicked noises the food was making. That made it quiet down. Letting out quiet quick unnecessary gasp of air and whimpers of pain as the ghost boy dined. It was sweet, but sour at the same time. He ripped out another chunk of ectoplasm, Slowly the ghost began to degenerate, losing focus on its form to put more energy towards staying alive—or technically staying in existence—then keeping a humanoid form.

The body went limp, the natural glow of its ectoplasm slowly dimming as the minutes past. Phantom took this time to lick his fingers and remove any of the remaining _ghost blood,_ from the area.

It was then that the world exploded back into focus. Suddenly Phantom became aware of where he was, a slow confused sound bubbling from his throat. His hair was wild and matted, bits of _something_ stick that he didn't want to think about, left it stuck in dirty white clumps, his ears had shorted back to normal along with his teeth and nails. It was then that he noticed the body.

Or rather the lack of. It really wasn't much of a body anymore. Just a green-gray cluster of exhausted ectoplasm. The floor was stained with it too, leaving it sheining a dark green. He felt like he was going to throw up. Phantom let out a slow, shaking breath, staring with wide eyes and a pale face. He had done this. _He was a monster._ Even though he was in the league and part of the team and a recognized hero, he was a monster and they would never know and when they found out, they would riot and he would never be able to show his face again and he would be giving to the government for experimentation, since the league would no long host him under their protection.

 _He didn't deserve to live._

Phantom let out another quiet whimper, which slowly turned into an agonized scream, echoing through the cave as he began to yell in languages long lost to mankind. Pushing his all too heavy feeling body into the corner he slowly cutting into ball, nesting his hands into his hard as he sobbed, flinching ever time he came across even a small clump of ectoplasm laced and tangled into his locks.

There was a knock at the door, causing Phantom to stop breathing. _They were here. Coming to get him._ Letting out a choked breath he used his powers to leach the electric energy from the lights, plunging the room into darkness once more. Phantom tucked himself into a corner and curled up as much as he could. A questioning voice from outside the room made him flinch. "Phantom?" The slightly muffled voice of Black Canary asked. His only response was to curl up tighter. He didn't want to be here he didn't want to be here he didn't want to be here he didn't wan—.

-0-

Canary slowly moved to the door, leaving it only cracked open slightly, slowly revealing the room. Bathing it in the blue artificial light of the hallway. There was what she could only assume to be a dead ghost corpse—if that even made sense, she tended not to question it—surrounded by a puddle of its blood— _ectoplasm technically_ —it was gray and barely glowing. All of its energy sucked clean. Taking her time to survey the room she slowly pushed the door more open. Stepping into the threshold. " _Phantom_ ," she called softly, making a note to remember to step _around_ the mushing body in the center of the area. "Phantom, it's okay," Canary tried to council into the dark room. Continuing to glance around for any sign of the ghost boy.

A rustling in the corner alerted her to his presence, backed up in one of the corners next to a nightstand, huddled up in a small ball. She took a step forward. Her heels making a soft _click click click_ on the floor boards. "Danny," she tried, watching as the form below her let out a violent flinch. Canary moved to sit down, kneeling in front of the boy. "It's okay. We're not making you go anywhere." She soothed, reaching out to slowly move the boys face up to here's.

His eyes were puffy and red, ugly, fat tears rolling down his cheeks as he just stared at Canary with big green eyes. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to," She soothed, and with that Phantom launched himself at her, wrapping his arms around her body, hugging her as he began to cry again.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry." He repeated like a mantra as Canary shifted to a more comfortable position. She softly _shhh_ 'ed him as the ghost boy fell into a sleep, mentally and physically exhausted.

-0-

"You still haven't explained." Conner growled.

After Batman had walked out of the room with Phantom in it, Conner had demanded answers. It was reasonably, really. Normal people didn't just act like wild animals for no reason, and since they had to _work_ with this person, he was not happy. Conners anger only doubled when Batman refused to comment, instead opting to simply led them down the hallway without speaking. Like nothing unusual had happened, ignoring the heated glare Conner kept on him the entire walk down the far too long hallway.

"We are aware of Phantoms," Batman paused briefly, trying to figure out the right words for what he was trying to say. They had reached the end of the hallway and were now in the kitchen. " _Condition_ ," he finally decided. "And it does not concern you." Batman found himself positioned blocking the hallway from the two teens. Black Canary was in the room with Phantom currently, and the last thing they needed was two angry superpowered teenagers bursting in.

The quiet echoing _click click click_ of high heels alerted the three in the kitchen to Black Canary's approaching form. "Canary," Batman briefly acknowledged, nodding in greetings. "How is he?"

Canary paused, "He'll be fine, in a bit." Mouthing the words _I'll tell you later_ as she walked past him, slipping a small writing pad into his hand as she moved.

"You can't just keep this from us! He just—just went crazy, and you're just gonna pretend like? Like it didn't happen?" Conner growled, bolting up from his spot on one of the bar stools, causing it to teeter and tilt violently for a minute.

Batman paused for a minute, staring down at the two teens, Megan still looked petrified, a far too pale face, her hands shaking quickly, even as she tried to stop them, holding both of her arms against her body. Every once in awhile she would glance behind her as if checking to make sure someone wasn't standing there.

Conner seemed more angry, that was his general reaction to fear or confusion. Unlike Megan, he was shaking in anger. His eyes had a hard and dangerous gleam in them. Fist clenching and unclenching by his sides as he took small steps forward, and then backwards, not really moving anywhere.

Batman took one final look at the two of them, before sighing. "Phantom will explain." He finally answered. "If he wants to."


End file.
